faith

“Whoever does not have this faith—that Christ is his with every good thing—does not yet believe correctly. He is not a Christian, and his heart is not cheerful and eager. Only faith makes Christians who are cheerful, eager, secure, saved, and God’s children, where the Holy Spirit must dwell. That is such beautiful, bright, and costly clothing, which has such exceedingly precious ornaments, jewels, and gems—all virtue, grace, wisdom, truth, righteousness, and whatever is in Christ—that St. Paul says, ‘I thank God for His inexpressible gift’ [2 Cor. 9:15]. St. Peter says that great and costly blessings are given to us through Christ (2 Peter 1 [:4])” (LW 76:21).

“But it is the chief subject of all Holy Scripture to know and understand God when He makes a promise. For He helps and brings support even with the actual realization of His promise and when it is fulfilled; but before this He disciplines faith in the promise by means of a lack of the things of which we are in need. He does this in order that we may learn to trust Him and not to tempt Him” (LW 8:201).

“Without any wavering we must leave the foundation undisturbed, namely, that faith reconciles man with God and justifies him without any works, without any merit. St. Paul says, ‘We hold that man is justified without the doing of the works of the Law, only through faith’ (Romans 4[3:28]). And: ‘Abraham’s faith was counted to him for righteousness’ (Romans 4[:9]), as it is also to us, etc. Likewise: ‘We are justified through faith and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5[:1]). Likewise: ‘If one believes from the heart, then he is justified’ (Romans 10[:10]). We must cling to these and similar passages much more firmly and immovably rely on them, that the forgiveness of sins and justification is ascribed to faith alone without any contribution from works” (LW 78:320).

The following excerpt from the great reformer Martin Luther is taken from What Luther Says, a collection of more than 5,100 quotations on 200 subjects gleaned from his writings.

Faith Is a Mighty Power—Or Nothing at All

Faith is not the human notion and dream which some regard as faith. And when they see that it is not followed by an improvement in life and by good works and yet still can hear and talk much about faith, they fall into the error of saying: Faith is not enough; we must do good works if we are to become godly and be saved. The reason for this lies in the fact that when they hear the Gospel, they go to work and by their own powers form in their hearts an idea which says: I believe. This they then consider a true faith. But, being a human figment and idea which never reaches the depths of the heart, it is inoperative, and no betterment follows.

Faith, however, is a divine work within us. It transforms us and gives us a new birth wrought by God (John 1:13). It slays the old Adam, makes us entirely different people in heart, spirit, mind, and all powers, and brings with it the Holy Spirit. Oh, a living, energetic, active, mighty thing is this faith. It is impossible for it not to do good incessantly. Nor does it ask whether good works are to be done; but before the question is put, it has already done them and is forever doing them. He, however, who does not perform such works is a man without faith (glaubloser Mensch), who gropes and looks about for faith and good works and knows neither what faith is nor what good works are, although he prates and prattles much about faith and good works.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in the grace of God. It is so certain that a man would die for it a thousand times over. This confidence and knowledge of divine grace makes a person happy, bold, and of high spirits in his relation to God and all His creatures. The Holy Spirit creates this attitude in faith. Hence a person, without constraint, becomes willing and eager to do good to everybody, to serve everybody, to suffer all sorts of things for the love of God and to the praise of Him who has shown him such grace. So it is impossible to separate works from faith, indeed just as impossible as it is to separate heat and light from fire. [no. 1491]

Christians are being called to defend their faith as never before—whether in the political sphere, in the work environment, and especially in personal discussions. Are you prepared “to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15)?

Making the Case for Christianity: Responding to Modern Objections, edited by Korey D. Maas and Adam S. Francisco and available now, introduces specific intellectual objections to the Christian faith and then demonstrates how these objections might rationally be answered. Topics covered include the existence of God, the Gospels as reliable history, Islam, the resurrection of Christ, the doctrine of salvation, good vs. evil, and atheism. Contributors include Dr. John Bombaro, Dr. Angus Menuge, Dr. Joshua Pagán, Craig A. Parton, and Rev. Mark A. Pierson.